


Tactics

by kosame



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Genderswap, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-12-04
Updated: 2012-01-27
Packaged: 2017-10-26 22:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/288471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kosame/pseuds/kosame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His plan is simple: if they pretend to date, no one will ask any questions about the way she stares at his older sister, or his boyfriend who lives in the city. But as she struggles to sort out her feelings, she gets pulled further into his madness, and begins to feel a bit mad herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, cliched Japanese high school AU, does your bounty never end? This is a fem!Norway/fem!Denmark story with background SuFin. I've been working on it for a little while, and I think I've finally got enough plot in my head to maybe make it work. We'll see, anyway.
> 
> I'm using the names I came up with for "Sasameite Ii Yo," but otherwise this fic has nothing to do with that one.
> 
> Nagiura Isana - Norway  
> Chouno Mari - Denmark  
> Chouno Masanori - Sweden  
> Kusawake Chihiro - Finland
> 
> Iceland is probably not going to be involved in any significant way, because he's Isana's elementary school-age brother, and while adorable, I don't think he has much to contribute. There will be cameos from other Hetalia characters, but none that play a really major role.

The late morning sun streamed through the windows of the gymnasium, bathing Saturday basketball practice in golden light. Girls ran up and down the court, sneakers squeaking against the floor in counterpoint to the heavy rhythm of the dribbling ball. In the center of it all, the team captain shouted instructions and encouragement, glowing with passion, or maybe it was just the sunlight filtering through her short hair.

Isana was trying to catch herself when she thought things like that about her, though she didn't bother to stop herself from staring at her long time best friend.

Mari was a grade above her, but they'd been together since they were little, living only a few houses apart in their tiny town in the middle of nowhere. There had been no question Isana would go to the same high school as Mari, or that she'd become the basketball team manager as soon as she did. But something else had happened since her entrance ceremony, something she didn't really understand even now. It seemed to involve a lot of staring at the lean lines of Mari's body as she lost herself in the game and getting irrationally angry every time someone stammered their way through a confession that Mari invariably shrugged off with a laugh and no hard feelings.

It was a troubling problem. An absorbing problem. Which is why she was devoting all her concentration to watching Mari's smile and didn't notice someone had sat next to her until he said, "Morning."

"Masanori-kun," Isana said coolly, annoyed at the interruption. Mari's brother, the only person around even freakishly taller than her, and Isana's classmate. "What are you doing here?"

"Aneko forgot her lunch," he said, lifting the bundle in his left hand as if to prove it.

"Just leave it there, I'll give it to her," Isana said, turning her gaze back to the court. It took her a few moments to register he wasn't leaving. "What?"

"You're not very subtle."

"Pardon?"

"You should be my girlfriend."

Though Isana was often silent, she was rarely speechless. Masanori was no help; he just stared at her from behind his glasses. Her mouth moved through several shapes before finally settling on, " _No_."

Masanori's expression didn't move. "Why not?"

"Because I don't like you like that. I'm not sure I like you at all." That last part wasn't true, but it could be if he didn't decide to back off in the next ten seconds.

Confusion settled in the lines of his face, and he clarified, "I don't mean you should date me."

"Then what do you mean?" Isana demanded, feeling completely lost.

"If you're my girlfriend, no one will ask any questions about how you stare at Aneko."

"I do not," Isana whispered loudly, careful not to let her voice carry and mortified at being caught. "And even if I did, that doesn't mean anything."

Masanori didn't say anything.

Isana took a moment to think, jumping on the obvious question as soon as it occurred to her. "What's in this for you?"

She was half expecting him to use this secret as leverage, or maybe even to declare himself to just be that much of a saint. Instead, he did something she'd never seen him do before: he looked away and blushed.

"You already have someone," she accused him in a fierce whisper.

He met her eyes again, but the blush stayed. "We met three weeks ago when I took the train into the city."

"And pretending to take me on dates would give you an excuse to go out there more often," she said flatly, beginning to see the general shape of the situation. "What school does she go to?"

"Aomori Gakuen," Masanori said quietly.

Aomori was private, prestigious, and... "Isn't that an all-boys school?"

"Says the girl with a crush on my sister."

Isana glared at him for a few seconds before conceding the point. "Fine. We'll cover for each other. What do you want me to do?"

"Come with me on the train twice a month. Other than that, whatever you'd do if you were actually dating me."

First she squinted, then she reached out and snatched his glasses and tried squinting again. Shaking her head, she handed them back. Even though they were siblings, he could never be mistaken for Mari. "No guarantees."

He shrugged.

While he put his glasses back on, she took the opportunity to snatch Mari's lunch and chuck it over to rest haphazardly next to her bag. Then, Isana grabbed the whistle hanging around her neck and blew three short blasts. "Good work, everyone, let's break for lunch!"

Mari made a beeline for her waterbottle, taking a big glup, and wiped her face with the towel on her bag. Then, without realizing she hadn't put it there, she picked up her lunch and brought it to where Isana and Masanori were sitting. "Ah, that was a great workout, I'm starving!" She smiled brightly at Isana, then said even as she began tearing into the tupperware, "What brings you here, little bro?"

Isana cut in before he could answer. "He came to talk to me."

"Oh?" It was slightly muffled from the half a riceball she'd stuffed in her mouth.

"Yeah. I'm his girlfriend now."

Quick reflexes saved her from being showered with rice, and she didn't bother to hide her snigger at how Masanori had taken the brunt of the spray as Mari had inevitably choked on her lunch. Petty revenge achieved, she stood and slapped Mari hard on the back, before sauntering off coolly. Her expression betrayed none of her unease at what she had just agreed to. What she had gotten herself into.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Isana hissed as Masanori hurried to follow her out of the classroom.

"We're dating, remember?" he said under his breath.

Oh. Right. "Fine." She didn't slow down, leading him up to the roof, where she ate with Mari everyday.

The older girl was already there when they arrived, smiling widely when she saw them. "If it isn't the lovebirds."

"Shut up, Aneko," Isana snapped. She didn't know what she had expected, but either way the greeting made her usual good mood at getting to eat with Mari evaporate.

Mari laughed, the same way as always. "I didn't know you were in to verbal abuse, little bro."

Isana could see Masanori prickle, which she imagined was his perpetual complex about Mari lording her barely-a-year lead in age over him. Even though she knew the two of them would protect each other fiercely if the chips were down, even she could be fooled into thinking they hated each other at times.

"She doesn't abuse me, only idiots like you."

Something in Mari's eyes brightened a little at that, before being visibly snuffed out of existence. "Then I guess it must be true love," she said lightly.

He said nothing in response.

Something heavy settled at the bottom of Isana's stomach. Of course Mari was too dense to understand that she only criticized her so heavily because it was the only way she could say anything without dying of embarrassment. Stupid Mari. Stupid, stupid Mari. "I guess it must be," she said venomously.

Mari whipped around to face Isana, no trace of her usual smile. It was only a split-second, but it was enough to make Isana regret having said it. Mari recovered quickly, forcing an awkward laugh. "You guys probably want to eat alone, huh?" she said, sweeping her lunch of convenience store breads and snacks onto her skirt and using it to carry it all, unconcerned the shorts she wore underneath were on display. "You need to tell me when I'm being a third wheel, you know how clueless I am. Enjoy." With a self-deprecating smile, she disappeared into the staircase.

Isana just glared at Masanori, even as she knew it was more her own fault than his.

He was silent for a long moment, before he said, "You're going to have to be the one to say something."

"What?"

"I've been trying to get her to see it, but she either can't or won't."

She was honestly surprised that he would have devoted any effort at all to his sister's love life. "That's uncharacteristically altruistic of you," she said not a little suspiciously

"You don't have to live with her," he replied cryptically.

Deciding it probably best to let it go if she was going to keep up the fiction they were dating, she didn't respond, letting herself get lost in her confusing feelings instead.


	2. Chapter 2

When Masanori tried to follow her again the next day at lunch, Isana just gave him a dirty look and broke out into a run. She was sure he could keep up without any trouble, but it was the principle of the thing, and besides, she had to catch Mari.

They skidded to a halt outside of the classroom, Masanori only a second late, and Isana tried desperately to gather the courage to open the door. The seconds dragged on and on as she tried to force her shaky hand to the door, when the choice was taken out of her hands and the door banged open.

"Huh?" Mari's classmate looked a little surprised to see them there. Isana didn't particularly like him, partially because of his long brown hair that was clearly against the dress code, and partially because he treated Mari like he was her best friend when that position was clearly already filled. "Oh," he said after a moment, as if it had taken him that long to recognize her. "Oi, Chouno, your ducklings are here to see you!" he called over his shoulder before slipping out the door.

"Thanks!" Mari called from across the room, and her irritation gave way to unease as the older girl left the group of boys she'd been talking to and headed over to them. "What's up?"

Unfortunately for Isana, her courage still hadn't materialized. She stood there, silently, fuming at herself and staring at Mari's shoes. They were scuffed. Typical.

Not getting an answer from Isana, Mari turned to her brother, who had no trouble finding his voice. "Are you eating with us today?"

"Nah, like I said, I'm not too hot on being the third wheel. Don't worry about me!"

"Who was worried?" Isana snapped without looking up. Masanori subtly stepped on her foot, probably to remind her of what she already knew: verbal abuse wasn't the best way to woo someone. Laughing to mask the awkwardness like always, Mari began to turn back to her friends, but was stopped by Isana's hand on the hem of her blouse. In her desperation, she had reached and snatched it without thinking about it. "Aneko," she tried, willing Mari to magically understand what she wanted.

"Chouno, you coming?" a voice demanded from the other door of the classroom, where the boys looked about to leave, lunches in hand.

Mari didn't really seem to hesitate, letting out a breath that was nearly a sigh as her shoulders fell in resignation. "Go ahead without me," she called to them with a wide smile which turned fond when her attention returned to Isana. "Let me get my lunch."

It seemed that was all that had to be said. Now if only Mari could only intuit everything else Isana wanted her to know but couldn't bring herself to say. She wasn't really holding her breath.

***

The click-clack of the train over the rails was the only noise in the nearly deserted car, the rocking motion making Isana's shoulder knock into Masanori's every so often. He didn't move or even grunt in reaction, just let her slam into his side. It was their first "date", and despite the fact that she'd agreed to it, she still wasn't in a charitable mood. Eventually, she got tired of her petty revenge, relaxing back against the cushioned bench seat.

After a few moments of relative quiet, Masanori spoke. "When do you want to meet back?"

Isana looked up at the rings, swaying slightly overhead. "Whenever."

"I'd rather we set a time."

"Then you set it."

He frowned at her, but it was hard to tell if he was actually unhappy or just displaying his default expression. "Three hours, then?"

"Fine."

There was another long pause. "I appreciate you doing this, you know."

"It's not like I had a choice," she griped.

That time it definitely was a frown that settled across his features. "Yeah, you did."

"You threatened to spill my secret," she cried in indignation.

"Did not." When she harrumphed, he continued, "It'd be easier for you if I did, anyway."

"So you're ensuring my cooperation by not helping me?" Her retort was dripping with venom, despite the fact she knew he was right. If Mari could find out on her own then that would save Isana from her inability to say it.

"I am helping you," Masanori insisted.

"With your brilliant plan," she deadpanned.

"It is brilliant," he said. "It's gonna fix everything."

Snorting in disbelief, she turned back to planning what she was going to do in the city while he and his perfect boyfriend went on their perfect date. Probably get some ice cream to assuage her bad mood, for a start.

It seemed, though, that he just didn't know when to shut up, which was actually strange given how little he usually spoke. "The fireworks competition is in six weeks." It was held annually in the city, and would be busy enough that no one would notice he wasn't actually there with Isana, but it was something couples usually liked to go to, so it made sense he'd want her there.

"And you want cover for that too? Fine, whatever," she said, wishing he would shut up and leave her to stew.

"I wanna introduce him to you and Aneko then."

Her brain processed that slowly, going from incomprehension to grasping the actual meaning of what he was saying. That was her deadline to tell Mari herself, or Masanori would take matters into his own hands. Sullenly, she sunk back into the seat without responding, but recognizing it for the ultimatum it was meant she didn't have to. A wave of cold sweat washed over her. One way or another, this would all end at the festival.


End file.
